Field hockey beats Newport Harbor in first home game

Chronicle staff member and field hockey co-captain, Astor Wu '20 passes the ball through the Newport Harbor defense.

The field hockey team beat Newport Harbor High School 5-1 today in its home opener, this marks the team’s fourth consecutive win of the season.

By halftime, the team secured a three-point lead after its defense allowed no goals. The Wolverines furthered their lead as they scored within the first minutes of the second half, putting them up 4-0. With seven minutes left in the game, Newport Harbor scored their first goal, ending the shutout. Less than a minute later, the Wolverines responded with another goal capping off the final score 5-1.

After their win against Edison High School on Tuesday, the team made improvements going into its game, Bella Ganocy ’22 said.

“After having a slow start in Tuesday’s game, our team resolved to start off really strong and maintain a competitive and focused mindset for this game,” Ganocy said. “Our team’s goal in this game was to score in the first five minutes and to maintain high-intensity throughout the whole game. Our preparation really paid off today because even though Newport is a very strong team, we were able to get the lead early and maintain it throughout.”

The team’s focus was to maintain that momentum through the game, captain Sam Yeh ’20 said.

“Going into the game today, I think our team was very focused,” Yeh said. “One of our goals was to start really strong and score early on, so being hyped and ready from the start was really important. Our team went in with the goal of starting strong, and playing our best from the first moment because it was something we struggled with last game.”

The team’s strategy was to work cohesively and stay aggressive, Penny Juarez ’21 said.

“We wanted to focus on intensity today, coming off a tough game against Edison last Tuesday we wanted to play like we were two goals down,” said Juarez. “We were able to work as a team and move as a unit up and down the field. We kept the same mentality of intensity throughout the whole game and really wanted to make sure that translated to the end of the game.

The Wolverines’ next game will be on Ted Slavin Field against Huntington Beach High School on Sep. 12. Last year, the Wolverines won 7-3 against the Sailors.